Nassau County School District To Host Inaugural Reverse Job Fair

3/19/2018

On Wednesday, April 18th from 10:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., the Nassau County School District will host the area’s first ever Reverse Job Fair at the Lewis “Red” Bean Nassau Technical Center on the FSCJ Campus in Yulee.

For those that have previously participated in job or career fairs, a “Reverse Job Fair” is exactly what you might guess. Job seekers are stationed throughout the room, and employers work the room to meet their potential hires. While this type of event has been tried in other areas of the country, this is the first known Reverse Fair in the Northeast Florida region.

According to Brent Lemond, Nassau’s Career Education Director, the event will feature some additional innovations and should prove to be far more productive than a traditional career fair. “We intend to employ what we are terming ‘Informed Recruiting’. This means that as candidates register, we will work to recruit more employers seeking their specific skills. Similarly, as employers register and list their needs, we will target marketing to produce more candidates possessing specific skills.”

Lemond also touted the event’s “Shotgun Start”. At golf tournaments, this format allows for all golfers to begin at the same time by positioning participants on all 18 tees at the start and rotating through the course. “If you’ve ever been to a typical job fair, you’ve probably noticed bottlenecks at certain booths. The crowds cause conversations to be rushed and some candidates don’t get an adequate opportunity to talk. By employing a shotgun start strategy, we’re hoping this will allow for a maximum number of introductions.”

The event will consist of three sessions. One session will be high school underclassmen seeking a part-time job and/or summer job. The second session will feature current seniors looking for more permanent employment. The final session will be open to all adults and previous graduates residing in Nassau County. Many students that have been trained in Nassau County’s popular industry certification career programs will be in attendance.